These early “irons” were called linen smoothers or slick stones. In Europe, from the time of the Vikings until the medieval period, stones, glass and wood pieces were used to smooth fabric. In the first century BC, the Chinese became the first to apply heat in the process of pressing cloth, using long-handled metal pans filled with charcoal and passing the pans over the cloth to smooth out wrinkles. Before the first electric iron was invented in 1882, many different types of implements were created to press cloth. Irons in a variety of forms and shapes have been around since humans wanted to get the wrinkles out of the fabric. Filled with not only merchandise, but also his personal collection of widely assorted antiques, Eph’s country store was locally famous. Along with these irons, the Western Illinois Museum acquired quite a number of items when the store closed after Eph Mercer’s death in 1976. Originally, the two irons were part of the Eph Mercer’s antique-filled store that was located in Vermont. These irons show how before the invention of electricity irons were heated in different ways. One iron used charcoal and the other used gasoline to heat it. On display at the Western Illinois Museum as the October Artifacts of the Month are two pre-electric irons.
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